A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fill packs for heat and mass transfer in counter-flow, in particular for the cooling of water in cooling towers by means of air, with a plurality of vertically or obliquely positioned corrugated or folded sheets or plates which are superposed and joined to each other and which are designed and/or superposed and joined to each other in such a manner that the corrugations or folds of adjoining sheets or plates cross each other.
B. Description of Prior Art
Such a fill pack or contact body is described in Federal Republic of Germany Patent No. 21 13 614. In the known fill pack, the corrugations or folds cross each other in adjoining layers at an angle of 45.degree. or less, preferably 25.degree. to 40.degree.. The layers support each other and are glued to each other at the contact points by means of a suitable adhesive. Water and air flow in countercurrent through the fill pack. Continuous ducts are formed between the layers in the fill pack. These ducts are both horizontal and vertical and their width varies continuously between zero at the contact points between the layers and double the height of the corrugations or folds. The height of the corrugations or folds can be between 5 and 26 mm, preferably between 10 to 20 mm and the width of the ducts varies over the entire surface of the layers between zero and double the height of the corrugations or folds.
Such a crosswise arrangement of the corrugations or folds of adjoining sheets or plates or layers results in a turbulent flow of the gaseous medium in order to obtain adequate heat exchange rates. Because of the plurality of nodes between the corrugations or folds of adjoining layers throughout the entire fill pack, such fill packs or contact bodies have a relatively high tendency, however, to get fouled.